


Decent enough

by Higgystar



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Gen, Kink Meme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-28
Updated: 2014-04-28
Packaged: 2018-01-21 04:45:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1538066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Higgystar/pseuds/Higgystar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt from the kinkmeme: Something bad happens to Daryl preseries and Merle tries to cheer him up in his own crappy big brother Merle Dixon way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Decent enough

The Dixon family don’t have many traditions. They’re not a family that remembers dates and birthdays or that celebrate events, in fact they weren’t really the type to celebrate anything. When their mom had been alive they’d had a few happy occasions, a few days where their dad had made enough money to treat them to a meal out and their mom had worn make up again and smiled brightly. Merle remembers those times being few and far between even back then, so now they’d all but vanished.

Except for one of course.

Whenever he got back from one of his trips away, whether it be juvie, prison, the army or just a few months away getting high, he always took Daryl out for the first night back. Tonight was a little different, because for once Daryl hadn’t met him out by the truck when he’d pulled up and instead he’d been forced to actually step inside their shitty run down house and find his little brother. The place was the same as it had been when he’d left, rotting and broken, nothing quite working properly and stinking of beer and smoke.

Merle doesn’t bother knocking, the door’s never locked anyway, and pushes his way into the living area, finding their father passed out on the couch with an almost empty whiskey bottle still clutched in his fingers. Sneering a little he wants to go over and take out his frustration on the man, but it was pathetic to hit a man when he was down and besides, his dad wasn’t causing problems if he was unconscious. Moving on he steps over the trash on the floor and heads to Daryl’s room, still remembering to miss the second step up in case the creaking would wake their dad.

He doesn’t bother knocking on Daryl’s bedroom door, there’s nothing his brother’s got that he hadn’t seen before anyway. Kicking the door open he props himself in the doorway, grinning to his brother where he’s curled on the bed. “Hey there baby brother, didn’t you hear me pull up?” Glancing round the room he notes it’s the same as always, a complete tip with clothes strewn about the place and pages ripped from magazines stuck on the wall in a mockery of posters. “Told you I was coming today.”

Usually whenever he’s back Daryl shows at least some kind of interest, from yelling at him for being gone so long to practically throwing himself at Merle’s chest in a rough hug. Instead Daryl doesn’t even roll over to look at him, instead remaining facing the wall with a shrug before replying. “I’m not hungry Merle.”

Merle snorts at that, Daryl’s always been shit at lying to him and ever since he hit puberty Daryl’s been eating anything he could get his hands on. “Sure you are, you’re always hungry.” He points out, kicking aside some dirty clothing to make his way to perch on the edge of Daryl’s bed. His brother is still scrawny, but growing enough to start filling out to his height. There’s still an awkwardness to his height and Merle can see the kid’s wearing some of his own old clothes since they fit better now he’s shot right up.

Daryl shrugs again, still not looking at him and making Merle sigh out loud when he has to fight to lean over to see him even slightly. “Ain’t today.” His brother mumbles, swatting Merle away when he reaches out to try and get him to face him.

“Hey come on now this ain’t like you.” Sure maybe he didn’t see his brother all the time, but he knew him better than anyone else and it was frustrating to have his plans thrown off because Daryl was being a little bitch. If there was one thing he knew it was that whenever he came back, he and Daryl went out together. He wasn’t going to have that ruined, so despite Daryl’s swatting he continues prodding and jabbing at his brother’s side. “What’s got your panties in a bunch?”

His brother squirms on the bed, batting and aiming a few punches in his direction, which Merle catches and pushes off easily. If Daryl wasn’t going to open up in conversation he’d just annoy the answers out of him. “Nothing Merle, I just ain’t in the mood.” Daryl growls and kicks at him, scrabbling and scrapping until Merle overpowers him and gets him pinned down.

Now he can see his little brother, he’s not shocked by the bruises and black eye, but the obvious sign of tears on Daryl’s face does confuse him. From a young age he’d taught Daryl that tears get you nothing and he couldn’t think of anything that could send his brother into this much upset. “Hey now, none of that.” Sitting up he throws a dirty shirt from the floor to Daryl, standing and hunting out his brother’s boots and jacket for him. “Wipe your damned eyes Darylina, no sniffling, we’re going out.”

It’s a sign of how well Daryl knows him that his brother doesn’t argue, instead he just wipes off his face with the tee shirt before rolling out of bed, catching the boots and jacket Merle tosses at him and dragging them on. Merle doesn’t point out that he looks like shit, nor that Daryl lingers closer behind, using him like a shield when they walk past their still sleeping father to leave. Instead he starts up the truck, lights a cigarette and blasts the radio as loud as he can as they drive, letting Daryl use the time to get himself under control.

The roads are familiar, old and worn, twisting through the woods and letting Merle feel more at home than he ever did in that shit hole his dad owned. Usually they’d go out hunting, maybe park up somewhere and smoke and drink themselves until they fell asleep in the truck. This evening though Merle knew that wouldn’t cut it, and with the way Daryl was looking and clearly feeling today, maybe he could afford to spoil his baby brother a little bit. Just this once.

Pulling in he doesn’t care that he takes up two parking spaces, abandoning the truck and letting Daryl follow him inside the bar a few steps behind. It’s nothing special, the same beer and service as every other bar in Georgia, but they did a damned good burger and that’s what they were here for. There’s a game blaring on the TV around them, a group of rowdy idiots watching it in the corner and leaving the two of them to grab a couple of seats at the bar.

“Two beers and a burger and fries.” He nods to the bartender, grinning as nicely as he can and trying not to worry as Daryl slumps down beside him in his seat when they get a scowl in reply.

“Really Dixon?” It’s not their usual haunt, but there’s no one in this town that doesn’t know the Dixons. Usually it’s not such a bad thing, people known what to expect before they’ve even spoken, today though it sucked to be so well known. “You think I don’t know how old the kid is?”

Scoffing loudly Merle slams a hand to the bar top, not wanting this night to be complete shit and usually that meant not staying sober. “Aw come on man, what’s one beer gonna do? Really?” He tries to wheedle it out of him, hoping that maybe if he was lucky he could get a beer in for Daryl, everyone knows no one cares about the law down here, but this asshole clearly hadn’t got the memo.

“It’s not happening Dixon, the kid can have a coke.” Is his final answer and Merle wishes he had enough cash on him to manage a bribe, but right now his wallet’s a little thin and a meal between them was pretty much pushing it.

Shrugging to Daryl he hates seeing his little brother like this, slumped on the bar top and not caring about losing the prospect of a beer. Usually Daryl would have kicked up a fuss alongside him, the two of them causing enough of a row to usually get their own way if they wanted it, but today Daryl was just not in the mood. It grates on him to see him so put out, so unlike a Dixon and quiet. Taking a gulp of his beer he watches his brother pick at the bar top, playing with the coasters and fidgeting like he always does when he’s troubled.

“All right, out with it.” Fishing out a pack of cigarettes he lights one, taking a puff and waiting for Daryl to open up. His brother was always quiet, but usually whenever Merle got back he couldn’t shut Daryl up for trying. “Tell me what’s bothering you.”

Daryl shakes his head, poking at the ice in his drink and letting it bob back to the surface. “Ain’t nothing Merle.” He mutters again and whatever patience Merle has for him is starting to wear thin pretty quickly.

Their plate of food arrives and Merle scoots it to sit between them on the bar, trying to at least nudge Daryl into eating something. Blowing out a stream of smoke into the air he tries his best to be patient, he doesn’t want to push but fucking hell Daryl was being an annoying little shit today. “’s gotta be something to get you like this.”

“Just leave it, it’s no big deal.” Daryl snarls, and a part of Merle is pleased to see the kid’s still got some spark inside of him.

“Hey it’s gotta be sort of a big deal to get you like this.” He scoffs, shoving the plate further in front of Daryl, knowing sometimes asking nicely just didn’t work. “Eat up.”

“Told you I weren’t hungry.”

Stubbing out the cigarette he rubs at the back of his head, feeling the anger get higher and higher inside of him. Daryl sure knows how to press his buttons when he wants to and right now the lack of appreciation being shown makes him want to hit his brother upside the head. Instead he simply gives a final snap, letting Daryl know how he feels without laying a finger on his already bruised brother. “I know you are so eat and put some weight on your scrawny ass.”

Daryl seems to get the hint and begins picking at the fries, chomping them down noisily and Merle watches as the hunger takes over, causing Daryl to stop protesting and begin eating properly. “Ain’t scrawny Merle.” He still complains, but there’s less venom in his words now.

Merle figures that’s good enough and gives a smirk when half the plate is empty, reaching out to steal himself a handful of fries when Daryl starts on the burger. “Yeah ya are. Eat up.”

They sit in companionable silence for a while, Daryl making a dent in the food with Merle’s fingers grabbing a bite every so often as the bar buzzes around them. The game continues on behind them, cheers and jeers almost taking Merle’s mind off his brother’s issues. Lighting another cigarette he steals Daryl’s almost drained glass and tips the last few dregs to the floor. “So it’s gonna be a guessing game huh? Well I know it ain’t no girl breaking your heart, so that’s out. Don’t see no broken bones under the bruises, so it ain’t that.” He pauses for a moment, focussing on pouring some of his beer into Daryl’s glass before sliding it back over with a quiet question. “He give you those?”

Daryl nods.

They never talk about it, even if they both know what’s going on they don’t talk about it. He doesn’t want any details, he knows what goes on in that shit hole of a house, he’s lived through it, he doesn’t need to hear it too. So he keeps it as calm as he can, sipping his beer again and unable to meet Daryl’s eyes when he asks. “He give you those cause of whatever’s bothering you?”

Daryl shrugs.

He fucking hates this, there’s nothing he can do to make it better, he can’t get Daryl out of there and he can’t make it stop, but he can at least try to do what he can. “I ain’t gonna be mad you know?” He reassures him and though they’re both shit at this sort of thing, he’s pleased when Daryl doesn’t flinch when he places a hand on his shoulder. “Ain’t gonna be like him, you can tell me baby brother.”

His baby brother takes a few moments to gather his thoughts, reaching out to take a gulp of their shared beer and shove a handful of fries into his mouth. “I got expelled today.” Daryl finally mutters, immediately moving to eat the rest of his food and ignore Merle’s reaction.

“Oh.” Well that hadn’t been what he’s expected. Not that he didn’t expect those assholes to kick Daryl out as soon as possible, but he didn’t think such a thing would cause Daryl to react like this. So he snorts in derision, lighting another cigarette and giving a small chuckle that he’d been so worried over it. “You let somethin’ like that make you cry like a little girl Darylina?”

“Fuck off Merle!” There’s the fire in his little brother that he’d been trying to spark all night, making him growl and shrug off his hand to punch his thigh and give him a dead leg. Or at least try until Merle shoves him off.

Cackling a little he blows a few smoke rings, pouring Daryl more of his beer when his brothers drains it all in one gulp. “Thought you didn’t even like school.” Maybe it wasn’t such a big thing to him, school had been a waste of time when he’d been there, but he had no idea why the heck his baby brother was so torn up over that place.

“I don’t. “Daryl sighs, pushing away the now empty plate and drinking more of the shared beer, picking at the coasters and looking lost. Merle can see there’s something he’s not telling him, something that is making this such a big deal to Daryl that he’s not sharing. “That’s not the point.”

“Heck I didn’t finish school either, ain’t no big deal.” Merle huffs, offering Daryl a cigarette and not surprised when his brother accepts, showing no difficulty in smoking it. Not even one cough of splutter; must have been stealing a few from the old man then he summarises.

“I know Merle.”

His brother sounds so defeated, almost tired when he answers. Merle supposes he should give more of a shit, but crying over school was fucking pathetic. Daryl needed to toughen up anyway, learn the ways of the world and school wasn’t going to be doing that. “How’d it happen anyway?” He asks, not really caring, but if Daryl’s willing to talk about it, maybe he’ll find a way to get it all out and his brother smiling again.

“Got in a fight, broke another kid’s nose.” Daryl shrugs, moving to chew at his thumb between puffs on his cigarette. If he didn’t care about getting burnt Merle would slap that hand away like he usually did, but it seemed his brother was using that knowledge to his advantage and shielded himself with his cigarette.  “Got expelled.”

Well that sounds fairly reasonable for the school to want him out then, especially since Merle knew it wasn’t the first time. “Did he deserve it?”

“Yeah.” Reasonable on both sides then, he’d always taught Daryl to give as good as you got and if the kid deserved a broken nose, then he obviously did.

“Then don’t worry about it.” He smacks at Daryl’s back, trying to be friendly and take his mind off of it all. Weren’t no need to fret over something so stupid, what’s done was done and he knew it wasn’t like their old man would be going to the school complaining or finding Daryl somewhere new to go. “You don’t need to finish school baby brother, you’re gonna get by just fine, you’ll see.”

“Yeah. I know.” Stubbing out his own cigarette Daryl leans on the bar top, almost slumping completely on top of it, his voice low and deflated.

“Then what’s the big deal?”

“I just…” Daryl cuts himself off and looks up to him, and when Merle has to bat his thumb away from his mouth, he knows he’s still upset. His baby brother continues to fidget but he doesn’t know what he can do to make it better. When Daryl shakes his head and gives a shrug before continuing, Merle knows he’s not going to get an answer. “Nothing Merle. Ain’t no problem. It’s fine.”

“You sure? No more weeping into your pillow about not getting a scrap of paper with your name on it to say you graduated?” He teases, wanting to get off this fucking sappy subject and have Daryl acting more like his old self. He didn’t always come by too often nowadays and he wasn’t going to be spending the whole night with Daryl mourning over something so stupid.

“Shut up Merle. I don’t need no fucking school.” Daryl spits, angry again, sitting up and showing all the bluster that Merle had at that age, squaring up for a fight and making the sentimental part of Merle a little proud.

Smirking at his ability to get Daryl back on track and along the right line of thinking he moves to jab at his side, using Daryl’s defensive reflect to yank him into a headlock and ruffle at his hair. “Damn right you don’t, you’re a Dixon you’ll be fine no matter what.” He laughs, feeling Daryl swear and squirm in his grip, digging his nails into Merle’s jacket and giving everything he had.

The kid catches a lucky swipe with his leg and hooks Merle’s bar stool out from beneath him, sending the two of them to the floor and gaining cheers from across the bar. In a moment they’re scuffling, both grinning like fucking idiots and landing hits and kicks at each other, Daryl using his quickness to dance about Merle whilst he used his strength and larger frame to his advantage when he could. It goes on for a while and Merle can hear the cheers of the football crowd watching them as the bartender sighs, protesting for a moment before leaving them to it. There’s no real violence between them, it’s more of a play fight than anything else, but it’s enough for Merle to know his brother was going to be all right.

When he’s got Daryl swung over his shoulder he gives a cheer of victory when his baby brother taps out finally, both of them grinning and laughing as they retake their seats. It’s not much and Merle knows he’s pretty shit at being a big brother, but Daryl is smiling, he’s fed and laughing, so he must be doing something right. Their audience had the kindness to buy them a drink each and this time the barkeep doesn’t hesitate in sliding two beers over, clearly having given up on trying to reign in the Dixons for the night.

Holding his beer aloft he leans in to Daryl, enjoying when his brother leans against his side, still laughing over their stupid fight and clinking their beer bottle together. “To the dumbass Dixon brothers.” Merle smirks, feeling Daryl relax against his side before taking a gulp of his drink.

Sure he wasn’t the best brother, but he figured he was good enough for Daryl.


End file.
